Spring is here: time to create a healthy future by tending to your recovery!

Mar 16 2012 Published by under Change, Inspiration

I came across this beautiful affirmation that I must share with you. It’s from a book by Rokelle Lerner called ‘Affirmations for the Inner Child’. Hope you will find these words powerful and encouraging too.

I am creating a healthy future.

Snow drifts to the ground in soft white flakes, changing the shape and the look of the land. When the snow is thick and deep, it hides everything, both beautiful and ugly. Abandoned cars, garbage, flowers and gardens become vague shapes in the fields of endless white. It is not until spring that we really know what lies beneath the snow. I have buried my past underneath many feet of snow. This beautiful cover hides the good and the bad alike. New growth and new healing cannot take place until spring comes.

Today I will no longer be afraid of spring. I will welcome it. When my past is revealed, I will remove the old debris and reflect on the good memories there. Then, like a loving gardener, I will plant seeds, encouraging new growth. In this season of rebirth I am creating a healthy future by tending to my recovery.

Stay strong, remain hopeful and seek inspiration! 

P.S. What are the precious  ‘snowdrops’ underneath your snow of depression? Please share, as your beautiful memories can give a gift of inspiration to so many people.

Photo by: 123rf.com

No responses yet

The risk of recovering from depression vs. the risk of living with depression.

Jan 17 2012 Published by under Attitude, Change

Depression is painful. You feel hurt.

You lead a predictable and guaranteed painful existence. You numb yourself with drugs and sometimes lots of sleep. You wait for the pain to go away.

Before long you build an illusion that your recovery is out of your reach.

Then you build another illusion that if you were meant to recover, your journey out of depression would be clear, fast and totally pain-free.

But…

Have you ever thought that you might be hampering your own recovery and choosing to play it safe instead? ‘Better the devil you know?’

Could it be possible that the pain of your depression is less than the pains you might experience during and after your recovery?

Continue Reading »

3 responses so far

How to Get Over Criticism

Sep 08 2011 Published by under Attitude, Change, Strategy

Here is an article I enjoyed so much that I just had to post it on my blog! 

It’s by Christine Kane:

“Don’t be distracted by criticism. Remember – the only taste of success some people get is to take a bite out of you.” – Zig Ziglar
Here’s one thing I’m pretty sure of:

I’m pretty sure you don’t want to know “How to Get Over Criticism.”

I’ll bet you’d prefer a guide called: “How to Avoid Criticism and Ensure that Everybody Loves You Unequivocally til the Day You Die.”

Unfortunately, the subtitle would be: “Or How to Have a Totally Boring Life.”

Continue Reading »

4 responses so far

5 valuable lessons from my decluttering experiment

Apr 24 2010 Published by under Inspiration

Six weeks ago, I started my decluttering experiment. Although I made some progress, the results that excite me most lay not in the renewed order of my personal environment but the knowledge I gained during these past weeks.

Allow me to share this knowledge with you, as some of my insights may be of value to your life too.

Lesson #1: Knowing what and how to do is not enough. Nothing gets done without taking action.

Confession time: I have countless books, e-books and info on decluttering and organising. I’ve read them all. I have a deep knowledge of the topic, as well as a natural ability to organise any space (I was trained as a Home stager). However, during the past few weeks, I procrastinated, postponed, re-scheduled, searched and found really valid excuses, etc.

Saying that, there were a few good days that made my overall progress very noticeable. So, here comes…

Lesson #2: Just a few actions taken in the right direction towards your goal lead to noticeable changes.

Imagine what a consistent plan of actions could deliver you? Which relates directly to…

Lesson #3: Consistency breeds new habits.

My inconsistency halted the development of new habits. As I did not plan and take steps daily, my old habits took over on most days. My lack of visible success led me to frustration, disappointment and struggle on a few occasions. I also fell a victim to introspection and self-blame a few times, which uncovered a new lesson for me.

Lesson #4: Letting go is essential to developing trust in yourself and others.

One of the reasons for my inaction was my fear of letting go. I underestimated my current ability to release things and trust that if and when I needed them again, I would find a way to reclaim them from our abundant universe.

Pondering further, I realised something very profound.

Lesson #5: You need vision, clarity and focus to make true progress.

It is hard to decide what to keep or what to let go if your mind is muddled with endless possibilities or appears to lack clarity, focus and vision.

I am so grateful for these lessons and I am going to take my new insights into account and act accordingly. I will keep you posted!

By the way, while I had no intention to report these lessons as a suggestion for a depression recovery plan, I noticed during my writing that they are indeed invaluable if you are searching for ways to get better.

I hope my insights can be of help to you and I can’t wait to receive your insights, ideas, opinions and feedback.

Stay strong, remain hopeful and seek inspiration!

No responses yet

Your parents did to you…what?

Mar 29 2010 Published by under Decision, Determination, Inspiration

What is one of the most common things any psychiatrist or mental health professional asks during your first meeting? I think it’s ‘Tell me about your childhood’.

So, you tell your ‘story’ and it gets written down and filed in your notes. The next professional comes along and asks you to tell it again. Some of them will try to ‘dig in’ deeper and deeper to find a cause of your depression.

Continue Reading »

2 responses so far

« Newer posts Older posts »

}